Toy building blocks with closure panes



Feb. 15, 1949. (1P. ERHARDT 2,461,535

I TOY BUILDING BLOCK WITH CLOSURE PANE Filed Jan. 24, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet 1 0. P. ERHARDT TOY BUILDING BLOCK WITH CLOSURE PANE Feb;15, 1949.

Filed Jan. 24, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 2 W7 m i m fan M A g, W

Patented Feb. 15, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT orrics TOY BUIEDING -WI TII'CLUSU'RE' V Oscar Pt Erhauclt; West Haven, Conn., assignor to The A. 0-.Gilbert Company, New Haven, Conn, av corporation of Maryland ApplicationJ anuary'24, 1944", Serial-No. 519,433

This invention relates to building. block toys and to-componentblocks-and pieces of the variety commonly sold in packaged sets to bepiled by children into fanciful representations of buildings and relatedstructures.

One object of the invention isto providetoy building blocks in miniaturesizes simulating bricks and cut-or artificial stone havin structuralfeatures making them proof against mis-alignment and accidentaldisplacement when piled upon one another unskillfully by a child.

Another objectis so to configure a brick or stone simulating toybuilding block that itwill not tend to rock when laid uponor in abuttingcontact with a mating block or'other fiat surface.

A further object is to make use; in a 0.0!1'? structional toy, of brickor stone simulating toy blocks of inexpensive. durable, molded" materialhaving no grain tendingto cause warping and preferably requiring noapplication of heat to set in shape the material of which the blocks:are composed. Preferably alsomy improved blocks have a granularnon-lustrous surface texture colored satisfactorily to resembleinminiature 7 Claims. (Cl. 46-25) blocks of the above: characteristics.bar-shaped- 4 help hold in accurately assembled alignmentone or moresuch toy blocks lying inabutting contact with one or more such timbersticks.

A further object is further to configure the above toy timber sticks sothat they will -func-- tion to retain and hold against broadsidedisplacement a closure pane filling the windowor" doorway opening thatis bordered by the timber sticks;

A further object is to provide -aclosure-pane to be used in thisconnection: which in part is composed of transparent materialwhiler'bei'ng in other parts colored or surface ornamented to representwindow sash or the paneled sections of: a door." g

In general an object of the invention is to increase the realism withwhich toybuilding pieces may; when piled together,v resemble inminiature actual full-sized brick; masonry. or stucco buildingsincorporating wooden timbers as sillsheaders -jambs or outside boardtrim with trans: parent windows and doors that swing open.

The foregoing and other objects of the inventron will appear in clearerdetail from the following description of preferred embodiments of theinvention in which description referenceis had to theaccompanyingdrawings wherein-:-

Fig. l is an isometric View of a partially completed toy buildingstructure made by piling to-' gether component toy building piecesseparately pictured in other figures of thedrawin'gs and embodying thepresent improvements.

Fig. 2 is a view taken in section on a vertical plane at the location 2'2 in Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 2'.

Fig. 4 is. a perspective view of a. single one of thelongertoy brickblocks incorporated in the built up structure of 'Fig. 1 showing itsside that contains dowel sockets.

Fig.5 is a view taken in central vertical section longitudinally throughthe block of Fig. 4-,

Fig. 6 is a-perspective view of a shorter toy Erick blockshowing itsside that carries a dowel Fig. 7 isa perspective view of one of the toytimbersticks incorporated in the built-up structure of Fig. 1 showinginteren'g'a'ged therewith a fragment of a toy block like that of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 is: a perspective view of a closure pane as incorporated in thebuilt-up structure of Fig 1 to simulatea window.

Fig. 9 shows awedgeshaped piece that may be used to fillin corners forproducing sloping surfaces illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is an isometric view of the outside of a toy: brick buildingwall showinga hinged door.

Fig. 111: is an isometric viewof; the hinged door in closed position,parts of the'building structure appearing broken away or in brokenlines.

In constructional toys of the type where blocks are loosely piled'uponand beside one another to the blocks slow and troublesome to fittogether and take apart. Trouble also arises from the lossof flatness ofabutting surfaces of the" blocks usually due to'their warping orshrinkage with age so that: they rock upon oneanother and make itdiflicult to'pile them stably. Furthermore, constructional housebuilding. toys heretofore have'commonly been composed of sets of piecessimulating either all-masonry construction or allwood construction. Thislimitation has imposed a lack of variety in the number of differentkinds of toy building structures that can be erected by the use of agiven set. of toy blocks.

Such shortcomings as the above have long characterized commerciallyavailable sets of toy building blocks, and to overcome these priorlimitations my present invention contemplates combinations of brick orstone simulating toy blocks and timber simulating toy sticks socooperatively fashioned alone or in conjunction with certain closurepanes as to be relatively anchored when piled together and to be capableof assemblage in a greater variety of fanciful ways than heretofore.Illustrative examples of the novel features of assemblage appear in Fig.1.

The toy building structure of Fig. l is composed in part of red or graytoy full bricks l0, red or gray toy half bricks ll, natural wood finishtoy timber sticks 2 to 15, inclusive, and partially transparent toyclosure panes i'l, l8 and L9. The difference in sizes of the various toybricks, toy timber sticks, and toy closure panes may reside mainly orsolely in the differences of their respective lengths wherefore adescription of any exemplary. length will suffice to make clear theprinciples of construction and cooperative interfitting association ofall such lengths. i2 and I5 are sills, i3 is a header, and i6 is ajamb.,

The brick or stone simulating toy blocks of these improvements may bemade of various substances and may have devious appearances butpreferably will possess a rather granular, non-lustrous surfaceappearance resembling in miniature real building bricks or cut orartificial unpolished stone or granite building blocks. It has beenfound that a satisfactory toy block material for purposes of thisinvention may include in its composition red slate flour or gray slateflour moistened with water and combined with a miscible adhesive insuitable proportions to serve as a binder substance, the whole beingmolded to shape under very heavy pressure preferably without applicationof heat. Material of such composition for making toy brick blocks, whilebelieved to be new, is not 7 claimed in this application but is beingclaimed in a copending application owned incommon by the assignee of theinstant application. I prefer to make the full brick Ill and some of thehalf bricks H out of red slate flour because its color more closelyresembles the natural color and in miniature fineness the granularsurface texture and light reflecting characteristics of the most commonvariety of real building bricks, while some of the half bricks il in agiven set of the blocks may incorporate the gray slate flour therebymore closely to resemble blocksof cut or artificial stone contrasting incolor with the reddish brick blocks in a finished toy building structureas is the case with stone trimming usedfor ornamental or structuraleffect over and about doorways and windows in the construction of realbuildings.

By use of the foregoing materials and methods of production, registeringdowel recesses and dowel bosses may be shaped in the improved blockswithout resorting to machining or other secondary operations after theblock is originally pressed into form. In making one preferred form ofthe toy full brick block I0 illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the pressingmolds'are so contoured as to form the block with a. marginal ridge 24upstanding from and bordering the remaining or relatively recessed panelportions 25 and 25 alike respectively on the top and bottom larger facesof the block. This insures that the extreme peripheral edge of theblock, andnever its central panel portion, abuts in contact with amating companion block or other planar surface so that all tendency ofthe block to rock about any centrally located "high spot is avoided. Inthe bottom panel portion 25' of block i there are formed from thematerial of the block two rounded dowel bosses 26 which project to agreater extent from the face of the panel than does the border ridge 26.In the top panel portion 25 of the same block there are two dowelsockets 2? in direct crosswise alignment with dowel bosses 26,respectively, and these sockets are configured to receive dowel bosseslike 26 on a mating block with a fairly snug lateral fit, which howeverleaves clearance space between the tip of the boss and the bottom of thesocket freely permitting the straight marginal ridges 24 of matingblocks abuttingly to contact with each other throughout their panelbordering extent. In other words the dowel bosses sufficiently fit thedowelsockets to maintain said ridges in abutting register.

A toy half brick block H is'shown in Fig. 6 with its top panel portion28 containing a single dowel boss 28, like one of the bosses 26, itbeing understood that a single dowel socket 2'5, like one of the dowelsockets 21, is carried centrally of the bottom panel 28' of block H.

In Figs. 3 and '7 one of the novel toy timber sticks or bars 12 is shownin mating relation to a broken off full brick block showing the nestingof one of the block dowel bosses 26 or 26' within one of a row of dowelsockets 29 spaced apart in exact accordance with the spac-' ing of theblock bosses 26, 2G. This orients any timber'bar relatively to any blockor blocks. This distance of spacing also'accords with the spacing of aboss 26 from a boss 26" when blocks 10 and H abut end to end. Fig. 7also shows that the stick i 2 is provided with a straight lengthwiseextending groove 31 which intersects the dowel sockets 29. In theopposite face of stick :2 there is a similar groove 32 coextensive withgroove'3i lengthwise of the stick. Sockets 28 are deeper than sockets21, 2?.

Either of grooves 3i or 32 will receive and retain against broadsidedisplacement an edge of a closure pane such as H, l8 or i9 hereinbeforereferred to. Such closure panes may be surface ornamented as at 35 byimprinting in colors a representation of window sash. In a similarmanner the closure pane l8 in Fig. 1 is seen to be surface ornamented torepresent the panel sections of a door. Portions of the closure panewhich are not ornamented can be transparent if the pane or plate becomposed of transparent materialsuch as celluloid, Cello phane, glass ortransparent plastics. Thus it will be seen that closure panes such asl1, l8 and i9 may be incorporated in the built-up housing structure ofFig. l with two, three or all of their marginal edges lodged retaininglyin the stick grooves 3| or 32 and retained thereby against broadsidedisplacement or Warping.

For incidental use where sloping surfaces are desired the wedge-shapedblock 33 may be employed to fill in corners, asillustrated in Fig. 1, orin devious other ways. 3.

' The relative disposition of any" full brick block 1d,; half brickblock I L, or timber-stick L2,. I3 l4, Hit6, etc-.,;isentirelyunrestricted andat the users free-choice; because the distances betweenthe centers of every boss and every socket from the nearest; end ofeveryblock and stick as well as from each of the side edges of every blockand stick are exactly equal while the distances between every twoadjacent bosses or dowels in each block and stick are likewise equal.Thus in whatever evenly aligned edgewise abutting relation the blocksand stick may be placed the distances between the centers of all dowelsocketsand between the centers. of all dowel bosses are equalr It willbeunderstood' that one or both. sides of all of the difierent lengths oftimber sticks l2, !3, M; I55 and maybe provided with grooves like 3|, 32and with sockets like 29; and that the vertical sides of the windowopenings may be bordered'byupright timber sticks as in the case ofthetgdoorway; The lengthof each timber stick preferably isan evenmultiple of the length, the breadth or the thickness of blocks is or ll,or even multiple of some sum of such block dimensions. These sticks maybe natural wood.

Figs. 10 and 11 show how a closure pane representing a door 38, muchlike door l8,,. may be mounted in the same timber stick grooves Si or 32in sill Hand'- header Win a manner to swing open and closed: Door'38 canbe made of bendable metal so that two or more tabs 39 formingcontinuations of such metal and projecting from one upright edge of thedoor can be bent into hinge loops pivotally surrounding a vertical hingepin section 4| of the complete bent wire door holder 40. This doorholder and door combined are referred to in some of the appended claimsas a closure pane structure since holder 48 consists of a springy wirebent to C-shape whose pane holding function takes the place of directlyanchoring the edge of the pane proper. Thus the top and bottomhorizontal free arms 42 and 43 of holder 40 flank the top and bottomedges or the door and serve the same holding purposes as the top andbottom edges of door It by being receivable and lodged in the grooves 3!and 32 of sill l4 and header l3, respectively, and thereby oriented infixed lateral relation to said sill, header and the spaced tiers ofblocks at the upright edges of the door. Preferably the door holdingwire 50 will be bent to such shape and dimensions in relation to theheight of the doorway between sill l4 and header 53 that wire arms E2and 43 may be pressed slightly toward each other for passing into acompletely constructed doorway and then automatically spring slightlyapart to enter and be retainingly lodged in grooves 31 or 32. Sockets orcavities 29 in the sill or header being wider and deeper than grooves3!, 32 will make it easy to reach under and pry loose the holder arms 42and 43 for removing them from the doorway without tearing down thesurrounding toy building wall structure whenever desired. In thisconnection it may be mentioned that closure panes such as l1, l8 and I9may be flexible and resilient enough to permit their being momentarilyforced into a bowed shape for entering and removing them with respect tothe window openings and doorways without disturbing surrounding wallstructure. They can then spring back into fiat shape with two of theiredges anchored in two of the timber slots.

The bent-over stretches of hinge pin M of door holder wire 40 are formedwith jogs 44, 44 providing top and bottom thrust for the door so thatairs held toiswingfcleanof: the bottomxw-ire am 4'3 and clear of thesill stick !4.. The free end of wire arm- 43 isbent up at is toproject-outlier the stick groove and actraspastopagainst w hich' door 33abuts in its closed position in-,Fig.jl:l;,-;A

stud to carried bythedoor may serveas a toy door knob.

Many other modifications will bersuggested; to

worker'sinthis art by the disclosure hereot and' molded.clays,.-or anysuitable materialswhatever.

' The appended claims. are intended tocov er all vobi ious substitutesand equivalent for theparts,

shapes and arrangements defined thereby:

I'cl'aimf r I v 1. In a toy constructional. set, a pluralityorrigi'd'toy building blocks adapted to be pil'edl one .upon the other inhorizontally oriented relation,

each of said blocks comprising a rigid some ody having miniaturebrick-like shape and propertions' and each of whose broadside'facesconsists in major part of a relatively depressed hard panelsurface, straight ma'rginalfiridges standing in re.- lief withrespecttoand bordering each oi" said panel surfaces along the edges: of.each; of said blocks; at least two spaced" apart block orienting dowelsockets sunk in one of said panel surface of each of said blocl tstgand'a pluralityof. block orienting: dowel projections outstanding from'theother panel surface or each 'ofsaidblocks receiv able in andsufficiently fitting said dowel sockets respectively when said blocksare laterally aligned to maintain said straight marginal ridges ofdifferent blocks in abutting register with one another whereby saidpanel surfaces are kept separated and spaced apart when one block ispiled upon another block.

2. In a toy constructional set, at least two rigid toy building blocksas defined in claim 1 in which the said dowel projections have roundedtips and are of such height and girth relative to the depth and girth ofthe said dowel sockets respectively that said projections nest freely inand fill the girth of said sockets when the said marginal ridges ofdifferent blocks are in abutting contact.

3. In a piled arrangement of toy constructional pieces, rigid blocksimitative of bricks and extending in the same direction spaced apart ona common level, dowel bosses carried on a horizontal face of each ofsaid spaced blocks, a horizontal toy timber bar overlapping said spacedblocks and spanning the space therebetween, at least one horizontal faceof said bar containing a groove extending lengthwise thereof and alsocontaining a row of spaced dowel sockets engageable simultaneously bysaid dowel bosses of different blocks thereby to orient said barrelatively to said blocks as well as to determine and maintain thespacing of the latter, and a closure pane including mounting structuretherefor receivable in said groove between said spaced blocks fororienting and holding said mounting structure in fixed lateral relationboth to said bar and to said spaced blocks.

4. In a brick house constructional toy, the combination defined in claim3, in which the said holder for the said closure pane comprises aresilient wire bent to C-shape whose upright section is adapted tofunction as a stationary hinge pin and is pivotally engaged by the saidclosure pane, the horizontal arms of said C-shaped wire being lodged inthe said grooves in a manner to be' freed therefrom when one of saidarms is flexed toward the other of said arms.

5. In a brick house construction toy, the combination defined in claim3, in which the said holder for the said closure pane comprises a C-shaped wire terminating in top and bottom horizontal arms lodged in thesaid grooves, at least one of said arms being resilient and having a jogoffsetting the free end of said arm from a resilient portion of saidarm, said resilient arm portion being free and clear from the groove inwhich said free end of the arm is lodged.

6. The combination of, a toy constructional element having a groove, aclosure element having an elongated resilient mounting rod removablylodged in said groove, and a cavity in said constructional elementintersected by and deeper 1.

than said groove, said mounting rod passing through said cavity in amanner to leave a space below said rod in said cavity for the insertionof a tool in a manner to pry said rod out of said groove.

7. In a constructional toy, the combination of spaced rows of rigid toyblocks imitative of bricks and bordering a wall aperture, orientingprojections carried by said blocks spaced lengthwise of said rows andfacing toward said aperture, toy timber bars flanking said rows ofblocks and bordering said aperture having orienting recesses facing saidblocks and occupied respectively by said block carried projections andcontaining grooves disposed lengthwise of said bars facing 8 said wallaperture, a closure pane occupyin said wall aperture, and a holder onwhich said pane is hinged removably having longitudinal portions lodgedin said bar contained grooves.

OSCAR P. ERHARDT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 233,780 Lilienthal Oct. 26, 1880312,420 Anderson Feb. 17, 1885 725,032 Brandt Apr. 14, 1903 729,918Braun June 2, 1903 769,171 Kray Sept. 6, 1904 1,207,504 Converse Dec. 5,1916 1,286,462 Wesche Dec. 3, 1918 1,403,196 Rasely Jan. 10, 19222,013.771 Tompkins Sept. 10, 1935 2,293,424 Costa Aug. 18, 1942 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 254,462 Great Britain July 8, 1926 403,228Great Britain Dec. 21, 1933 806,957

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